1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine stoppage notification apparatus.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-065850, filed Mar. 9, 2004, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
From the prior art, in a vehicle such as, for example, an automobile or a motorcycle or a scooter, in order to minimize the amount of exhaust gas which is emitted and the consumption of fuel, there have per se been known devices which stop the engine when the vehicle has ceased to move and the engine is idling, as when waiting at a traffic signal or during an episode of road congestion or the like, and which restart the engine from this idling stoppage state when the driver actuates the accelerator or releases the brake. A notification device is provided which notifies the driver of this engine stoppage during the idling stoppage state, and which thus also reassures the driver that this engine stoppage is not a malfunction (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. 2000-283010).
However, since the idling stoppage is performed provided that the idling stoppage conditions are fulfilled, even if, when for example waiting at a traffic signal or the like, it is clear to the driver of the vehicle that the signal will soon go to green, accordingly the intention of the driver to start off the vehicle and the timing of implementation of the idling stoppage may not correspond to one another and be mutually compatible, and there has been the problem that this imposes an undue burden upon the driver of the vehicle.
Furthermore if, even though the idling stoppage conditions are satisfied, the accelerator is again actuated for a second time during the time period from when the operation of the injector or injectors, and/or of the ignition, has been stopped in order to stop the engine to when the engine actually stops, then the problems occur that a burden of acceleration is imposed upon the engine which must restart again, and moreover a sense of discomfort is engendered in the driver, so that the product quality is deteriorated.
Thus, the objective of the present invention is to propose an engine stoppage notification apparatus, which is capable of alleviating the burden upon the driver of the vehicle by ensuring that the intention of the driver to start off the vehicle and the idling stoppage state correspond to one another and are mutually compatible, so that it is possible to anticipate enhancement of the product quality.